Erasmus names unchanged squad for Ireland sequel

Springbok coach, Rassie Erasmus, named the most experienced team in Springbok history when he retained the same 23-man matchday squad to the one which defeated Ireland 27-20 in their opening Incoming Series match in Pretoria last week for the second Test at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.

Erasmus named an unchanged starting 15 with a total of 990 combined Test caps among them. The total surpasses the 987 caps amassed by the run-on team in the Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand in France last year.

Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel will become the most-capped centre pairing in South African history on Saturday, when they combine in the midfield for the 30th time in Tests.

Erasmus hopes for a more clinical performance from his charges this week.

“It’s always tough facing Ireland,” he says. “They are a quality team, they are ranked second in the world, and as we saw last week, they never stop fighting, so we know the magnitude of the challenge that awaits us this weekend.”

He is confident the team will come out stronger.

“But we also identified the areas of the game that we need to improve on, and it’s vital for us to build on our performance in our quest to win both matches.”

Erasmus was pleased with lastt week’s performances of Gerhard Steenekamp, Salmaan Moerat, and Sacha Feinberg Mngomezulu, who are the younger players in the squad and he expects them to feel even more settled on the field this week.

“They all made a strong impact off the bench, and they have immense potential as individuals,” he says.

“They’ll definitely become more confident and settled the more they play. It was really impressive to see them step up to the challenge of facing a top side such as Ireland, and similarly to the rest of the team, they know this weekend will be an even bigger test, but they’ll be up for the challenge.”

Springbok team to face Ireland in Durban:

15 – Willie le Roux

14 – Cheslin Kolbe

13 – Jesse Kriel

12 – Damian de Allende

11 – Kurt-Lee Arendse

10 – Handré Pollard

9 – Faf de Klerk

8 – Kwagga Smith

7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit

6 – Siya Kolisi

5 – Franco Mostert

4 – Eben Etzebeth

3 – Frans Malherbe

2 – Bongi Mbonambi

1 – Ox Nche

Replacements:

16 – Malcolm Marx

17 – Gerhard Steenekamp

18 – Vincent Koch

19 – Salmaan Moerat

20 – RG Snyman

21 – Marco van Staden

22 – Grant Williams

23 – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu

Written by Ntsako Mkhari